Method of storing hydraulic power.



PATENIED MAY 7, 1907.

7 l n i L. VON 'GERSTENBERGK-ZEGH. METHOD OF STORING HYDRAULIC POWER.

APPLIGATION FILED AUG/.27. 1906.

UNITED srA'r s PATENT FFTCE.

METHOD OF STORING HYDRAULIC POWER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 7, 1907.

Application filed August 27, 1906. Serial No. 332,302.

To all whom zit may concern:

Be it known that I, LEO 'VON GERs'rEN- BERGK-ZECI-I, a subject of the German Emperor, and a resident of Bergsulza, near Stadtsulza, Germany, have invented Im provements in Methods-of Storing Hydraulic Power, of which the following is a full, clear, and complete specification.

The present invention relates to a method of storing hydraulic power by which it is possible to concentrate the total or also only partial work obtainable from a discharge of water in the course of a day, without curtailing the quantity of the discharge at any time of the appertaining water-course to a shorter period, with correspondingly increased capacity for work per second.

The means employed for carrying out the improved method consist in one or more reservoirs being arranged below the hydraulic apparatus to be driven, in addition to the usual reservoir as generally employed above said apparatus. The reservoir connected to the head-race or upper water-course answers 'the purpose of retaining water which would otherwise flow away in the intervals between working, while the reservoir or group of reservoirs connected to the tail-race or lower water-course serves for collecting water supplied to it-during the working of the apparatus in larger quantities per second, and acts as a regulator on the uniform feeding of the lower water-course, as is required according to the conditions of the water at any time, by a corresponding adjustment of the gates or other closing devices.

In proportion as the inflow, or a fraction of the inflow, is retained by the upper reser-' voir and is thus withheld from the lower water-course, quantities of water are simultaneously supplied from the correspondingly filled lower reservoir to the lower watercourse, and in proportion as the stored water already mentioned is let out from the upper reservoir and conducted through the water power works into the lower reservoir which has meanwhile been correspondingly emptied,

the storage of water required in the lower reservoir is again increased. By this means a continuous equalization of the rate of flow from the lower reservoir to the lower watercourse is effected, and an optional storage and re-delivery of the total or fractional quantity of water of a water-course may at any time take place, for the purpose of a more e'lfi cient utilization'of the water-power, without hereby causing a corresponding sinking or rising of the water-lever which is to be maintained at any time in the adjacent lower water-course.

It is here supposed that the first filling of the reservoir arranged above or of that below the power-plant has taken place in a wet season, before the above described system of working is begun.

More particularly the present invention consists in a method of temporarily storing hydraulic power without interfering with the rate of I flow of water in the appertaining lower water-course, and in order that the details and action of my invention may be more clearly understood, reference is made to the accompanying drawing where there is illustrated means for carrying out such method, and in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional diagram of the arrangement with reservoirs provided below and above the power-house: Figs. 2 and 3 show a similar arrangement in section and plan respectively, with a weir adjacent to the power-house.

Referring to Fig. 1, aindicates the wall of a dam across a valley, I) a water-mill below the said dam, and c a dam below the water-mill in the water-course. Thus two reservoirs d and e are formed. The lower reservoir 6 is used in this case for the reception of the feed water of the lower water-course supplied at any time from the reservoir (1 with optional interruption, as well as for serving the lower water-course with the necessary quantities of feed-water at any time by means of a sluice f which can be regulated, or the like. The water supply from the upper reservoir d takes place by means of conduits, or sluice devices 9 which are able to be regulated, or the like. The sluice f is adjusted in such a way that that quantity of water per second. is uninterruptedly conducted from the reservoir 6 into the lower water-course h, which corresponds to the quantity of feed water per second at any time required by the lower water-course. The total quantity of water necessary for the 24l-hour supply of the lower water-course is taken from the reservoir 01 in the course of the daily working period and is sent through the sluice g or the like in a quantity per second which is correspondingly greater than the quantity per second which the feed of the water-course requires. The capacity of the reservoir 6 must be so proportioned that it is capable of holding the quantity of water utilized during the daily working period from the reservoir d, deducting that quantity of water which corresponds to the quantity of water required during this working period for the feeding of the lower water-course.

In Figs. 2 and 3 "Land 0 indicate the power works with an adjacent weir respectively: is and Zindicate the weirs or dams respectively located above and below the mill, said dams being provided with gates or closing devices n, p and m which are able to be regulated. By the arrangement illustrated two reservoirs g and r are formed below and above a reservoir 8, the latter serving solely for keeping constant the head of water required for the water-mill i, while the reservoirs g and 1' are reservoirs for the regulation of the inflow and outflow of water in the manner already described.

Single reservoirs or groups of reservoirs maybe arranged above and below the mill respectivel and according to the nature of the groun and other conditions the entire system maybe arranged directlyin the course of the stream or may be connected to the stream by means of a head-race and tail-race.

A series of mills or the like located one below the other may belong to a single system, with one reservoir or group of reservoirs at the upper end of the series and one reservoir or group of reservoirs at the lower end.

What I claim as m invention and desire to secure by Letters atent is:

1. Method of supplying water power from a river to means absorbing the same without disturbing the normal flow at a substantial distance below said means, consisting in intermittently collecting water from the river in a reservoir above said power-absorbing means, in intermittently discharging the water from said reservoir to said means, in temporarily receiving said water in a reservoir below said means, and'in discharging the water from said latter reservoir at a rate sufiicient to maintain the normal flow of the stream below said reservoir.

2. Method of supplying water power from a river of substantially constant daily flow to means absorbing the same without disturbing the constant flow at a substantial distance below said means, consisting in intermittently collecting water from the river in a reservoir above said power-absorbing means, in intermittently discharging the water from said reservoir to said means, in

temporarilyreceiving said water in a reservoir below said means, and in discharging the water from said latter reservoir at a substantially constant daily rate.

3. Method of supplying water power from i a river of substantially constant daily flow to means absorbing the same without disturbing the constant flow at a substantial distance below said means, consisting in collecting water from the river in a reservoir above said power-absorbing means during the time in which said means are inoperative, in discharging the water from said reservoir to said means during the tirnein which said means are operative, in receiving said water in a reservoir below said means, and in discharging the water from said latter reservoir at a substantially constant daily rate.

4. Method of supplying water power from a river to means absorbing the same without disturbing the normal flow at a substantial distance below said means, consisting in intermittently collecting water from the river in a reservoir above said power-absorbing means, in intermittently discharging the water from said reservoir to a reservoir having a substantially constant water-level, in intermittently discharging water from said constant level reservoir to said power-absorbing means, in temporarily recelving said water in a reservoir below said means, and in discharging the water from said latter reservoir at a rate sufiicient to maintain the normal flow of the stream below said resera river of substantially constant daily flow to means absorbing the same without dis turbing the constant flow at a substantial distance below said means, consisting in intermittently collecting water from the river in a reservoir above said-power-absorbing means, in intermittently discharging the water from said reservoir to a reservoir having a substantially constant water-level, in intermittently discharging water from said constant level reservoir to said power absorbing means, in temporarily receiving said water in a reservoir below said means, and

.in discharging the water from said latter reservoir at a substantially constant daily rate.

6. Method of supplying water power from a river of substantially constant daily flow to means absorbing the same without disturbing the constant flow at a substantial distance below said means, consisting in collecting water from the river in a reservoir above said power-absorbing means during the time in' which said means are inoperative, in discharging during the time in which said means are operative the water from said reservoir to a reservoir having a substantially constant 5. Method of supplying water power from ITO Water-level, in discharging Water from said latter reservoir to said power-absorbing means during the time in which said means are operative, in receiving said Water in a reservoir below said means and in discharging the Water from said latter reservoir at a substantially constant daily rate.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of the tWo subscribing Witnesses.

LEO VON GERSTENBERGK-ZECH.

Witnesses:

HENRY HAsPER, WOLDEMAR HAUPT. 

